Miami Heat players learned about Jimmy Butler’s trade to the Golden State Warriors, not from their front office, but from a fan sitting courtside.
Shant Solmaz, a lifelong Heat fan, was seated in the front row during Miami’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night when he saw reports of the trade online.
Solmaz, using tickets he received as a Christmas gift, took it upon himself to break the news to the team.
“I thought it was going to happen after the game. I had zero thought it was going to happen during the game, so when it happened during the game, I said, ‘Let me just tell the players really quick,” Solmaz said.
Solmaz shouted toward the bench, prompting reactions from his favorite player, Tyler Herro, as well as Kevin Love and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
I took my chances, I was like, ‘Boys, we won the trade,’ and I yelled it like three or four times,” Solmaz said.
Herro turned around and asked for details, while Jaquez appeared concerned he might be involved in the deal.
“Tyler Herro looked around, looked back and said, ‘What happened?’” And then I said, ‘Jimmy just went to the Warriors,’ and then Kevin Love turned around and asked me, ‘Who was it for?’ And then that’s when I went further into detail.”
After informing the players, Solmaz posted a video of the exchange on social media, which quickly went viral.
“After I told them, immediately I posyed in on Instagram, and probably five minutes later, Overtime reposted it,” Solmaz said, “and after that, my emails, my [direct messages] were flooded with everyone contacting me, and yeah, it just started to go viral.”
The Heat even featured Solmaz on their official Instagram page.
The trade sent Butler to the Warriors in exchange for Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schroder and Andrew Wiggins. It remains unclear whether Anderson will be staying with the Heat.
Schroder is getting moved to Utah — where the Warriors, coincidentally, were Wednesday night — and Josh Richardson is heading from Miami to Detroit.
Also on the move: P.J. Tucker, who was just traded to Utah and briefly was set to return to Miami, where he played in the 2021-22 season. As the trade continued evolving Thursday, Tucker was being moved to Toronto, and Davion Mitchell was headed to the Heat.
Solmaz, a Heat fan since he was 5, when Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and company won the team’s first NBA title back in 2006 championship run.
He said the Butler trade is a good move for the future.
“Andrew Wiggins is a great piece,” he said. “He’s a star, and he’s been cooking for the Warriors lately, so I’m excited to see what he bringsa to Miami.”
Though he admired Butler’s contributions to Miami, Solmaz was ready for the team to move on.
“I was a big fan of Jimmy for what he did for the city, but how he went about it I was upset about, so I just wanted the chapter to be over with,” he said.
Solmaz said he will always remember being the one who broke the news about one of the franchise’s biggest moves.
“I would say that was like probably the best day of my life — getting to interact with my favorite player and my favorite team, and then going viral for it,” he said. “Yeah, go Heat.”
Solmaz has since been interviewed by ESPN and Yahoo Sports, among other news outlets.